Behind Those Walls
by miley-avril
Summary: Hook and Emma have a late-night heartfelt conversation aboard the Jolly Roger. Captain Swan Fluff.


**HELLO EVERYONE! THIS IS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT CAPTAIN SWAN –**_**REAL**_** CS WITH FEELINGS BEING ADMITTED AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF. MOST OF YOU KNOW THAT I'M A DIE HARD GREMMA SHIPPER, BUT THIS SHIP IS GOOD ENOUGH TILL GRAHAM COMES BACK (HE HAS TO). SO YEAH. ONTO THE STORY!**

**DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME OR ITS CHARACTERS.**

Hook watches Emma from the doorway as she leans on the railing of the Jolly Roger. Just when he thought she couldn't get any more beautiful, he's proved wrong as the wind blows through her wavy blonde locks. Part of him tells him to turn around and go back to his cabin, that she left him on that beanstalk. But the other, still human part of him tells him to go and talk to her. Finally, it's the latter part that wins out, and in the near silence of the starry night, the sound of his boots on the wooden deck is like a jet. He sees Emma tense, and he knows that she knows he's there. _Great, now she's ignoring me_, he thinks.

"What do you want?" The blonde's voice is low and tight, and he can almost feel her reigning in her control as he's done much too many times.

"I just… wanted to check on you." And he did. God, how Hook just wants to make her feel better because he knows what it's like to be all alone and if he can spare just one person from that loneliness then maybe it'll help him feel good again. He ducks his head, hiding a small smile at how her face softens ever so slightly. "Since your father oh so nicely said that he'll kill me if you come back as anything but one piece. I assume that also means emotionally." He blew it, and he knows it. Emma's eyes grow hard again, and he sighs. "That came out wrong."

"Whatever, Hook." The blonde turns her gaze once again to the sea, hoping he'll get the hint and leave.

"Emma, honestly I–" Only when Emma whirls back around does he realize he'd used her first name. He gives her a gentle smile, one that says 'I'm not going to pretend I didn't just say that'. "I want to make sure you're okay. I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to, but your parents couldn't come along because of the town line thing, and I figured you're still mad at Neal."

"I'm fine." She says slowly, hiding her face with her hair because she's an open book to him. "If there's one thing I've learned in the past few months, it's that my family always finds each other so we'll find Henry." The conviction in her tone indicates that she wants so badly to believe her words, but years of heartache make it nearly impossible for her to do so.

"You don't have to pretend, Love." His good hand wraps around one of hers. Emma looks down at their intertwined hands and back up to his face. Their eyes meet for a moment before hers flicker away again. "I know this is hard on you. It would be hard on any parent."

"You have no freaking _idea_ how hard it is to know your kid's in danger but not be able to find him." Emma swallows hard, silently cursing the tears pricking at the back of her eyes. Hook's never told anyone this, and he's not quite sure why he is now, but he quietly says,

"Milah was with child when Rumplestiltskin killed her." His voice is thick with emotion. The statement startles Emma slightly, and she finally lets her green eyes search his blue ones. When she finds no signs of dishonesty, she says,

"I'm sorry." Because really, what can you say to someone when they say something like that?

"I was excited to be a father." Hook continues. "It was an accident, but I still–" his voice catches, and he swallows the lump in his throat. "I still loved my unborn child." At that moment, Emma's heart broke for the broken man next to her and her walls came tumbling down.

"The day Henry was born was the worst day of my life. I know that sounds strange, but I held him for all of five minutes before they took him from my arms. When he found me, back in Boston, that was the best day ever. It felt like I was finally meeting him for the first time and when I decided to stay for that week that turned into forever, I was being with my baby for the first time." Emma chokes out, the tears spilling over. Hook squeezes her hand. "And now I might never see him again."

"We _are_ going to find him, Emma. I promise." He touches her chin with his hook and turns her head, forcing her to look in his eyes. His heart breaks, too, at seeing his stubborn, brave, and strong Swan so broken. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I love that lad. I will do everything in my power and more to see to it that he is returned to you safely."

"Because he's Milah's grandson."

"No." He shakes his head. "Because he's _your_ son." Hook places a tender kiss to Emma's lips. Surprisingly, the blonde kisses him back right away, without hesitation. Emma hates the fact that she's quoting a Taylor Swift song, but she swears that she saw sparks fly.

"You know… you might not be _as_ bad an influence on Henry as I originally thought." She says breathlessly.

"What's that supposed to mean, Love?" He nuzzles her cheek.

"You're just… you're not a bad person." Emma pulls back. "Behind those walls. You should let them down more often. I like who you are." Though Hook is slightly disappointed at the lack of contact between them, he knows that she's not the touchy-feely type. Surprisingly, it's one of the reasons he loves her.

"Behind _my_ walls." Hook scoffs, mildly amused. "Swan, behind those walls _you_ have, and I must say, they are _very_ high, you are a kind, compassionate, and loving woman, despite your attempts at pretending not to care."

"You like a challenge." She says softly.

"I do." He agrees, his voice equally as soft and tender. "And I'm glad I accepted yours."


End file.
